By: M.Y  – UK

I came to Palestine very nervous, nervous because of the information I had been carrying accumulated over many years of absorbing the view of the western media about the occupied territories and the turmoil that exists between the two peoples of Israel and Palestine.

Arriving through Tel Aviv was interesting, and tense.  However, the immigration personal were very professional and dignified.  Understandably border security have an important job to do ensuring the right people enter.

Arriving at Zajel camp in the An-Najah National University, I was met by the volunteers, along with my colleagues from other parts of the world with great anticipation and excitement.  Very quickly we were made to feel safe and very welcome. The programme started in earnest.  We led workshops of students from the University for a couple of hours a day, young people whom I saw as very motivated, respectful and clearly valuing the opportunity they were experiencing.  It was very rewarding helping students learn English and information about a place (Europe) they clearly had a lot of interest to learn about.

Our host coordinator, I saw as an amazing individual from day one.  His passion and strong sense of responsibility, coupled with the obvious pastoral care is a credit to him and to some extent makes him the character he is, full of knowledge and wisdom, having done this over many years came across clearly.

Apart from the obvious pleasure of walking through the university campus each day, seeing students and those that look after the institution, and apart from the enjoyment of the workshops, the trips out of Najah gave all of us a true sense of life for Palestinians in this space known as the “Occupied Territories to us in rest of the world.  Remarkable people made up of sheer resilience and determination, a people that have been waiting for seventy years to take what rightfully belongs to them.

 

Personally I took extensive knowledge from the trips out that had been arranged within the work programme.  Visiting the Nativity Church in Bethlehem, the tense atmosphere in Hebron passing through checkpoints and the soldiers as part of normal everyday life brought home the extent to which an adapted life exists for all who live here. It was very stark to see and learn the Bethlehem seen by many as the home of Christianity now having a majority Muslim population, a population that is nearly 80 percent strong. But the remarkable point about that demographic is the ease in which people of different backgrounds are living together.

We were invited to a Bedouin wedding for 26 couples on one of the evenings, just outside Nablus city. It was perhaps the most extraordinary experience I have had the privilege of attending.  Hundreds meals were prepared and hundreds were invited to celebrate the occasion.  The entertainment, the speeches and the atmosphere of happiness created by the music and dancing would make to believe you were a million miles from the obvious poverty and difficulties faced by locals. It was nice to see the state Governor as the Guest of Honor.  The welcome that we as International were afforded was very typical of the warmth and love we have been receiving everywhere we go.

The phrase “life-changing experience” was used frequently by many in the group in our final days, it was an appropriate way to sum up the experience in this amazing part of the world.

No human being can fail to be moved by the plight being endured by the Palestinian people, all vital services in control of the Israeli Goverment, no provision of any imports or indeed exports from the occupied areas which would allow some sort of quality of life, strict control of movement, a non- existent economy and total dependency on aid are circumstances that cannot and should not be allowed to prevail – which of the world’s powerful nations are going to wake up first to restore justice for the Palestinian people and their rightful homeland?